The typeface, size, and the omission of the text of the Church Order of Dordt made this edition cheaper than 1883.02 and therefore more widely accessible. Since the edition was intended primarily for use in catechism classes, as gifts for those who made public confession of faith, and for diaconal and Bible schools, the publishers also held down the price by printing the booklet in a smaller format and on lower quality paper.

The preface urges readers to acquaint themselves with the forms of unity and indicates briefly for whom this edition is intended. The meaning and significance of the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dordt are subsequently described in a simple and pithy manner.

Only one reprint followed (1885.02) and an edition that included the “Compendium of the Christian Religion” (1884.05) subsequently became the catechism book for at least three generations of Gereformeerden in the Netherlands.

Kuyper opposed the use of pastors’ self-published catechetical booklets because of their great diversity (see De Heraut, no. 206, December 4, 1881). It is likely for this reason that he printed a cautionary piece against the use of catechetical booklets by Voetius without commentary in De Heraut, no. 272, March 11, 1883 just before the publication of 1883.02. See also the remarkable change in the preface of 1885.02, his remark in 1886.24 (p. 107), the introduction to 1892.06, and the preface of the eighth printing in 1892.08.